News

Thales Deploys Its Security Solution At Bahrain International Airport

Published

6 years ago

February 10, 2021

Thales

Thales, a French provider of integrated security and telecommunications solutions, has recently installed its system at the Bahrain International Airport. The system is part of the airport’s expansion, whose goal is to quadruple the size of the existing terminal and increase its capacity to 14 million passengers per year.

The integrated security and telecommunications system is responsible not just for security, safety, and airport operations but also for communication and infrastructure for the Bahrain International Airport terminal building, car parks, and Central Utility Complex, as stated by Thales in the official press release.

“We have ensured that Bahrain International Airport has been equipped with the latest smart and innovative solutions,” said Alain Correia, Managing Director at Thales Bahrain. “This guarantees optimum protection for passengers, staff, and facilities, and meets the demand for enhanced security at the new airport by Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company.”

The French company has been operating in Bahrain for more than 30 years, and it enjoys a strong partnership with many public sector organizations, including the Ministry of Transportation & Communication. As a local technology provider, it contributes to Bahrain’s goal of becoming a knowledge-based economy based around three guiding principles: sustainability, fairness, and competitiveness, as described in the Economic Vision 2030.

“Thales’s strength in innovation and digital technologies perfectly positions the group to become a preferred partner for aerospace, transportation, and public security, the pillars of Bahrain’s smart city ambition,” added Correia.

Also Read: Bahrain Becomes Among The First To Achieve Nationwide 5G Coverage

Digital technology is playing an increasingly important role in airports around the world, and the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus has only highlighted its importance. Airports across the United Arab Emirates have adopted thermal cameras to detect symptomatic passengers, and the country’s largest airline, Emirates, has introduced touchless technology to its check-in facilities.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.